Such a punching blade has been disclosed by WO 93/24289. In this case, the lengths of the punching elements are provided in groups of different length, so that in each case only a restricted number of punching elements have to pass simultaneously through a document to be punched, as a rule a number of sheets.
These punching blades work satisfactorily. However, their high price is disadvantageous, since the requisite punching thicknesses of, for example, 3 millimeters require machines which have a fine-punching mechanism and which have to be able to produce a pressure force of, for example, 800 tonnes. This is a price-raising factor for the punching machines to be used during the production.
A further disadvantage of the punching machine according to the prior art lies in the multiplicity of parts of a punching machine using such a punching blade, in which case, in particular, it is also always necessary to additionally provide a rake.